Safety net for crids



1954 J. B. ZlN-DELL 3,145,396

SAFETY NET FOR CRIBS Filed July 28, 1961 IN VENTOR. -T /M/ 5. Z/NDELL H T TOEWEY United States Patent 3,145,396 SAFETY NET FOR CRIBS Joan B. Zindell, 2304 Independence Blvd, Ann Arbor, Mich. Filed July 28, 1961, Ser. No. 127,683 6 Claims. (Cl. -97) This invention relates to a safety attachment for cribs.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a novel, simple and inexpensive safety attachment or shield for a babys crib which is intended primarily to prevent the baby from climbing or falling over the sides or ends of the crib and which will allow a free circulation of air and permit easy and quick access to the crib for removal of or attention to the baby.

Another object of the invention is to provide a safety attachment which shall comprise a single sheet of flexible netting of a size and shape to be spread over the top and to extend down along the sides and ends of a crib, in combination with novel and improved connectors including parts which are attached to said netting and quick-detachably connected to parts on the crib, whereby the attachment can be easily and quickly applied to and removed from a crib and easy access to the baby in the crib can be had by disconnecting the two cooperating parts of a few connectors without removing the whole attachment from the crib.

Other objects, advantages and results of the invention will be brought out by the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a safety attachment embodying the invention, applied to a crib;

FIGURE 1A is a detached plan view on a reduced scale of the net and the attached parts of the connectors;

FIGURE 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view approximately on the plane of the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 showing a portion of the attachment disconnected from the crib and thrown backto provide access to a baby in the crib;

FIGURE 4 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary perspective view of one of the connectors, a portion of the net and a portion of one of the crib rails; and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary sectional perspective view of a portion of a side panel of a crib and a connector part applied thereto, showing the modification of the invention.

Specifically describing the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the safety attachment is shown in the size and shape for use with a crib of a particular size and shape which is shown as comprising rectangular end boards A and B having the usual legs C and brackets D for supporting a spring mattress E in known manner. The end boards are connected by side panels which may be any suitable construction but each of which is shown as including a lower rail F and an upper rail G between and connected to both of which are slats or rods H. The crib is rectangular in plan and the side panels and end boards are also rectangular.

For this type of crib, the safety attachment includes a rectangular, flexible main part I shown in FIGURE 1A, of such size that it can be spread over the opening formed between the end boards and side panels at the top of the crib and extend downwardly along both the side panels and the end boards as best shown in FIG- URE l.

The main part I may be formed of any suitable material but preferably comprises netting the size of mesh of which may vary as desired to accommodate the particular purpose for which the attachment is used. Where the attachment is intended primarily to prevent the baby from crawling out of the crib or falling over the sides or ends thereof, the main part is preferably formed of relatively heavy cord woven or tied to provide a mesh resembling that of an ordinary fish net, and where netting is used, preferably a non-elastic binding or border 1 is secured to the net for attachment to the net of parts or sections 2 of connectors that cooperate with complemental parts or sections 3 connected to the crib.

More specifically describing the construction, the main part I is shown as comprising relatively heavy cords 4 that are knotted together in known manner 5 to provide a mesh and certain of which are connected as by tying cords 6 to the marginal or binding rope 1. The mesh may be much finer, but with all forms of the net, there will be adequate ventilation for the baby in the crib beneath the net.

The construction of the connectors may be widely varied, but the now preferred form includes the part or section 2 which is formed of a strip of elastic material 2a one end of which is looped around the marginal cord 1 and secured as by stitching 2b and the other end of which has connected thereto a snap hook 2c of generally known construction. The other part or section 3 of the connector is shown in FIGURES 1-5 as comprising an eye member or ring that can be easily applied to and removed from a lower rail F of the crib. A known form of split ring is shown comprising two semicircular sections 3:: each having one end pivotally connected to the other at 3b and its other end provided with a catch element 30 to coact with a complemental catch element on the other section. To apply the rings to the rails the catch portions 30 are separated and the two semi-circular sections pivotally swing apart so that they may embrace the rail and then be snapped together again as shown in FIGURE 4. However, the connector parts 2 might be connected to the main part I in other ways, and in some cases it may be desirable to fixedly attach eye members to the side panels instead of using the rings encircling the lower rails of the side panels. For example, as shown in FIGURE 5, the side panel of the crib is shown as comprising a frame 7 in which is secured a suitable netting 8, and instead of the ring members, eye members 3d are fixedly attached to the frame 7 by suitable fastening members such as screws 9. Obviously, the connector parts or sections 3 and 3d could be connected to other parts of the crib.

The connectors may be attached to the main part I and the crib in different relations to each other, but as shown, there is a connector at each corner of the rectangular main part and two connectors equidistantly spaced along each of the long sides of the main part; and there are four of the ring parts or sections 3 slidably mounted on each of the rails F of the crib.

In applying the main part I to the crib, it is laid over the top edges of the end boards and side panels with the end portions and marginal portions draped downwardly over the end boards and side panels of the crib, following which the connector part or section 2 at each corner of the main part is pulled around the corner of the corresponding end board and connected to the nearest ring 3 on the side rail as shown in FIGURE 1. The parts or sections 2 being elastic, they keep the main part I under tension so as to hold it firmly in position over the top and along the sides and ends of the crib against the normal efforts of a baby attempting to push the net upwardly away from the crib.

Obviously the main part I can be easily and quickly applied to and removed from the crib and after the attachment has once been applied, the ring parts or sections 3 or 3d may be left in position on the rails when the main part I is removed from the crib; but these ring parts can be entirely removed from the crib when desired. When access to the baby is desired without completely removing the main part I, it is merely necessary to detach two or three of the connector parts or sections 2 from their corresponding ring parts or sections 3 and fold or throw back a corner portion of the net as shown in FIG- URE 4.

It will be understood that the dimensions of the main part I may be varied as desired to provide more or less overhanging thereof downwardly along the end boards and side panels of the crib. It will also be understood that the connector parts or sections 2 can be made adjustable, for example, by adding adjustable buckles of known type to the elastic straps 2a. Furthermore, the details of construction of the parts corresponding to the snap hooks 2c and the ring parts or sections 3 may be varied as desired so long as the parts or sections 2 and 3 are quickly separably connected to each other.

, Other modifications and changes in the construction of 'the safety attachment will occur to those skilled in the art as within the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A safety attachment for cribs that are greater in length than in width and have end boards, said panels meeting said end boards in right-angle corners and side rails, said attachment comprising a main flexible part of a size and rectangular shape to spread over the top edges of said end boards and side panels with marginal portions depending along the end boards and side panels, the length and width of said attachment being greater than the length and width of the crib, respectively, and a plurality of connectors spaced apart along the edges of said main part for separably attaching said main part to the crib, each connected at one end to said main part and including means at its other end for connection to the crib, and there being a connector connected to each corner of the main part in diagonal relation thereto to extend in either direction around a corner of the crib.

2. A safety attachment for cribs as defined in claim 1 wherein the last-named means includes a hook and an eye member one of which is connected to the crib.

3. A safety attachment for cribs as defined in claim 1 wherein said main part comprises a rectangular sheet of netting formed of cords tied together and having a marginal rope secured thereto and one end of each connector is attached to said marginal rope.

4. The combination of a'crib greater in length than in width having end boards, side panels meeting said end boards at right-angle corners and upper and lower side rails, and a safety attachment comprising a main rectangular flexible part spread over the top edges of said boards and side panels with marginal portions depending along the end boards and side panels, the length and width of said attachment being greater than the length and width of the crib, respectively, and a plurality of connectors spaced apart along the edges of said main part, each connected at one end to said main part and including means at its other end for separable connection to a lower rail of the crib, one of said connectors being diagonally disposed at each of said corners of the main part and extending around an adjacent corner of the crib, said connectors thereby attaching the main part to the crib and exerting tension on all of said marginal portions of the main part so as to hold the main portion firmly in position over the top and along the sides and ends of the crib against the normal efforts of a baby attempting to push the net upwardly away from the crib.

5. A safety attachment for cribs that have end boards, side panels and side rails, said attachment comprising a main flexible part of a size and shape to spread over the top edges of said end boards and side panels with marginal portions depending along the end boards and side panels, and a plurality of connectors spaced apart along the edges of said main part for separably attaching said main part to the crib, each including two separably connected sections, one secured to said main part and the other to be mounted on one of said side rails, one of said sections of each connector comprising an eye member, to be mounted on one of said side rails, and the other section comprising a strap secured at one end to said main part and having at its other end a device quick-detachably connected to said eye member.

6. A safety attachment for cribs as defined in claim 5 wherein said main part comprises a rectangular sheet of netting having a marginal rope secured thereto, and one of the sections of each connector is attached to said marginal rope.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 777,016 France Dec. 6, 1904 951,089 Cooper Mar. 1, 1910 2,129,487 Bleier Sept. 6, 1938 2,170,703 Waxman et a1. a Aug. 22, 1939 2,840,093 Matthews June 24, 1958 2,883,678 Heffernan et a1. Apr. 28, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 2,843 Great Britain Feb. 9, 1895 771,126 Great Britain Mar. 27, 1957 

1. A SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR CRIBS THAT ARE GREATER IN LENGTH THAN IN WIDTH AND HAVE END BOARDS, SAID PANELS MEETING SAID END BOARDS IN RIGHT-ANGLE CORNERS AND SIDE RAILS, SAID ATTACHMENT COMPRISING A MAIN FLEXIBLE PART OF A SIZE AND RECTANGULAR SHAPE TO SPREAD OVER THE TOP EDGES OF SAID END BOARDS AND SIDE PANELS WITH MARGINAL PORTIONS DEPENDING ALONG THE END BOARDS AND SIDE PANELS, THE LENGTH AND WIDTH OF SAID ATTACHMENT BEING GREATER THAN THE LENGTH AND WIDTH OF THE CRIB, RESPECTIVELY, AND A PLURALITY OF CONNECTORS SPACED APART ALONG THE EDGES OF SAID MAIN PART 